Tips to Keep Your Pets Safe This Halloween

Halloween can be a very stressful time on your pet, even if they are the easy going sociable type. All the noises outside, strangers continually at the door, and extra excitement going on inside the house too.

We have four animals, 2 little dogs and 2 cats and we have realized that we have to just turn off the lights and hunker down on Halloween. We have one super nervous dog and another who will bark at every stranger on the block, plus one of our cats loves to be outside. Don't worry, we put a big bowl of candy outside on the porch for trick or treaters. :)

Some of these tips may seem painfully obvious, but some may be a wake up call. Either way, I hope this helps keep your four legged friend stay safe this Halloween.

Bowls of candy can be deadly for your dogs and cats. Most pet owners know that chocolate, especially the dark kind, can be lethal. Raisins are also very toxic along with a number of other foods and sweets. Also watch out for wrappers on the floor If you have a dog like ours, she loves to chew on them.

Be careful of pumpkins with candles in them, we have a large cat that loves to knock over anything he can get his paws on. Lit candle/tipped pumpkin equals fire!

You may think that that shark costume on you Lab is adorable, but he or she may hate it. If you don't regularly put clothing on your dog or cat Do Not do this on Halloween. It stresses the animals out, they are probably uncomfortable, and they may try to chew or bite it off and accidentally ingest fabric, buttons etc.

Keep your pets indoors and if possible in their own room where it is nice and quiet or maybe put a TV or music on for them. Our dogs go nuts when people come to the door so our go-to spot is the bedroom. We put them on the bed with some chew treats and turn on the put on some background noise. If you have a dog that is normally outside, bring them in the house or at least lay down a bed in the garage for them not to be startled by kids running through the yard.

Lastly, please make sure that your animals have collars with a name tag in case they do get out of the house. This of all nights you might have a good chance of getting a phone call or the animal brought back to you safely, because of the larger than normal amount of people walking around your neighborhood.